HET BELANG VAN ONTWERPEND ONDERZOEK Minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen riep in haar openingsspeech op goed na te denken over de toekomst van de stad, waarbij nieuwe technologieën, de verdeling van bestuurlijke verantwoordelijkheden, water en ook natuur belangrijke aandachtspunten zijn. "How can we combine urban development and the dynamics of nature in the coming decades? This is one of the most important questions the world faces right now." Zij onderstreepte daarbij de op onderzoek gerichte rol van de IABR: "We cannot know the future of our cities in detail but we can still explore it. The Biennale helps us to discover and to see the future a little more clearly. So I urge you all to make good use of it and design answers to the questions of today and tomorrow."

Ook directeur George Brugmans onderstreepte het onderzoekskarakter van de IABR: "The role we claim is that of a free and open cultural space that brings together designers and all stakeholders for a detour that acts as an alternative route to the future; a free and open space that acts as an incubator for innovation. This makes the IABR first of all an ongoing research by design program. A submarine that comes up for air every two years – and now is the moment again– to present the outcomes of the ateliers and build a public argument around these, with exhibitions, films, conferences, and whatever we think of."

Adriaan Visser, de nieuwe wethouder van Financiën, Cultuur en Sport van Rotterdam, onderstreepte de rol van de biennale voor de stad. "The International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam has become a genuine Rotterdam tradition. It has proven to be an innovative platform to outline new perspectives and opportunities for our city."Visser ging uitgebreid in op de resultaten van het IABR–Projectatelier Rotterdam, waarin stad en biennale nauw samenwerkten: "The knowledge resulting from the Project Ateliers contribute to a strong, attractive and resilient city. A city that will inspire other cities worldwide."

IABR–2014–CURATOR STATEMENT– De ceremonie werd afgesloten door de curator, Dirk Sijmons: "Not only the boundary between the city and the countryside is blurring but also the boundary between nature and society. The fascinating aspect of our time is the hybridizing of the biosphere with the techno-sphere at large. Hence the observation that the urban landscapes forms our habitat, ecology and our nature. We are a social species with a propensity to cluster together and to build cities: we are Urban by Nature. This positive angle on urbanization as a highly successful model of spatial organization does not eclipse the observation that most global environmental problems have urban roots. If we want to solve these problems we have to solve our urban problems."